Comparative study on the vitamin C contents of the food legume seeds.

We found that dehydrated legume seeds (6 genera, 19 species and cultivated varieties) contained considerable amounts of vitamin C (VC). The average value of total VC content per 100 g of dry weight in dehydrated seeds varied from 0.24 mg (kidney beans) to 4.

Suppressed expression of the apoplastic ascorbate oxidase gene increases salt tolerance in tobacco and Arabidopsis plants.

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing the ascorbate oxidase (AAO) gene in sense and antisense orientations, and an Arabidopsis mutant in which the T-DNA was inserted into a putative AAO gene, were used to examine the potential roles of AAO for salt-stress tolerance in plants. AAO activities in the transgenic tobacco plants expressing the gene in sense and antisense orientations were, respectively, about 16-fold and 0.2-fold of those in the wild type.

Sprouts as antioxidant food resources and young people's taste for them.

To assist our choice of sprouts as healthy foodstuffs, we examined and compared the antioxidant activities of various sprouts. Most sprouts contained higher amounts of vitamin C, polyphenol and DPPH radical-scavenging activity than their mature vegetables. As food materials, young college students preferred sprouts to mature vegetables in case of vegetables whose mature forms are unfamiliar at market.

Induction mechanism of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase in potato tuber and sweet potato root tissues.

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR, EC1.1.1.